A Pirate's Strife For Me
by AlisonWonderland51
Summary: Mistakes can change everything. Who your friends are, how people see you, they can make your whole world come crashing down on you. And Foxy's life is chock full of that.
1. Rejected

Chapter 1 – Rejected

I was never jealous of the others, per se. I never _resented them _for what they had_. _Though they certainly did resent me plenty. Freddy, Bonnie, and Chica are _still_ angry with me, after all this time. They blame _me _for not being able to walk around in the day anymore. I suppose it technically is my doing. But it wasn't my fault I bit that little girl's forehead clean off. Another child ran into Freddy, and he accidentally slammed his hand into the back of my head, shoving me forward. I just so _happened _to get my jaw stuck on that lass' cranium as a result. Freddy claims to harbor no memory of striking me, but I swear I didn't bite that girl on my own terms. Why would I? The little girl was all dressed up with her little toy hook in her hand and her little toy eyepatch. She even had a little shirt with my face on it. I'd never hurt one of my fans on purpose!

But nonetheless, the blame was pinned all on me, and we weren't allowed to walk around off the stages during the daytime hours anymore. _I_ wasn't allowed to walk around _at all_ anymore! I was thrown back into Pirate Cove, the curtains were closed, and the "Out of Order" sign that we all dreaded was plopped down in front of my little corner. I heard the manager say something to the kiddies about how I was just going out of commission for a while. They'd fix me up soon enough, he said. Well, that was _years _ago (at least I think it was…). And I haven't seen one maintenance worker yet. Certainly could use some stitching up. See, I began malfunctioning after biting into that little girl's forehead by mistake, it was a shock to my system, and one way or another I accidentally slashed my chest open with my own hook. The hole's only grown since then due to dry-rot and the like. I remember one employee actually took a _crowbar _to my shins when she was trying to stop me. It worked, I'll give her that much…

After all the suffering I've been through in this god and customer forsaken place, Freddy, Bonnie, and Chica still feel the need to either shun me or insult me. I'm too terrified to leave Pirate Cove at night because I'm afraid of what they'll do. Just day and night, behind this dark curtain. I've lost track of time by this point. I tried keeping a calendar by etching tallies the wall, but I ran out of space a long time ago. I don't even know what year it is anymore. I loathe that I can't at least have one of the others as a friend, or even just someone who doesn't downright hate me. I was so attention starved for the longest time, I thought I was going to snap. I never did because I was 90 percent sure that I already _had. _Somehow I found a way to stay sane inside insanity, I suppose. It really did feel like I was being driven mad from loneliness though. I'm a born performer! Literally, I was built _for _performing, just as Freddy and his mates are. It's a fate worse than death for me to stay cooped up in my little corner. During the day, I can at least watch the young ones and they have fun and cheer for Freddy and the others. I could never watch for too long, because my mind always wanders back to when they did that for me. Those memories are the only things I have anymore. You know, I think I would've rather management dissembled me and thrown me out than keep me functioning if they were going to do _this _to me.

After the others were allowed to start roaming freely at night, the place decided to hire a night guard. I remember Bonnie voicing some kind of a despair over having to be watched over like that. Didn't much bother me though, I never left the Cove at night anyway. I did overhear one night though, before the night guards began coming, Freddy, Bonnie, and Chica talking about how if they had to have a watchman here, they were going to have some "fun" with it. From what I caught, they formulated some kind of "game" where they would try to catch the guard. If the guard is caught, he or she loses and has to, in their words, "be one of us". I wasn't exactly sure what that entailed. It all sounded rather convoluted and unnecessarily ominous. Freddy always had a habit of talking bleakly like that. I didn't think I would care _what _Freddy and the others would do to these guards. As long as it distracted them harassing me any further.

I'll never forget the first guard that was hired though. A young woman by the name of Robin. I noticed her the second she walked through the front doors for the first time. The only reason I noticed her through the tiny parting in the curtains is because her hair was as blaring red as my fur used to be. Before it faded, that is. Pretty little lass this night guard was. She was a trooper, too! Freddy and the others tried to scare her something fierce if I recall, and she just kept going. Never once heard her scream or panic, or anything of that sort. Of course, this was before management made it so the guards could only use so much power during their shift, so Robin never had too much of a problem getting through the night okay, being that she could shut the doors whenever she wanted and for however long she needed.

During the second week of her working here, I noticed that the light on security camera just outside Pirate Cove was blinking on and off more than usual. Don't know what made her check on me more often, I hadn't moved from my spot. When I realized just how much I'd seen that camera go on, I peeked out further and looked into the lens of it. When the little light went on again, I noticed it was on for a much longer time. She was watching me. She had never seen me before, I don't think she had, at least, so it's understandable she'd stare. I do have to wonder how she felt the first time she saw me. Did I perhaps scare her? Or was she just curious as to what I was? The little light went on and off a few more times after I had peeked out. I wasn't doing anything aside from poking my head out of the curtains, but it did feel nice to actually get even the smallest amount of attention after all those years.

This repeated for a few days afterwards. She'd check the camera a few times, I'd poke my head out so she could see me. Sometimes, I'd sing one of my little songs for her. A little sea shanty I had programmed into my voice box. Didn't have words, just went to this sort of "Da da dum de dum" tune. One of the days, at the end of her shift, she quickly peeked behind the Cove's curtain. I didn't move, as I was _supposed_ to be shut off. But I saw the look on her face, and if I remember correctly, which I'm almost sure that I am, I remember she smiled just before closing the curtain. Seeing a human being smiling at me was something I had not seen in many a year, and I cannot describe how satisfying it felt. She must have been happy that I was the only animatronic that wasn't participating in that "game" of Freddy's. The day after, I overheard her ask the manager what I was. He replied with telling her that my name was Foxy, I was fox, I was pirate, all that. Her reaction made me so unabashedly happy, I'm not going to lie. She said, "He's a fox that's a pirate? That is the greatest thing, why would you put him out of order?!" And as you can most likely tell from the way I've been speaking of her, I quite liked Robin.

Robin liked me, I liked Robin. Which is why I will harshly regret for the rest of my days what I did a week or two later… See, I noticed that Robin had been checking the Pirate Cove camera less and less. I emerged from behind the curtains entirely, just to try and get her attention. I should've guessed that she probably wasn't checking on me as frequently because she realized I wasn't much of a threat. Didn't even consider that at the time. I was just so enjoying the minuscule amounts of attention I was getting. I also wish I had known that Freddy was especially active that night. Freddy found me outside my corner, and he didn't like that one little bit. He thought I was going to spoil his little game. I wasn't about to stay there and take a scolding from Fazbear. I was in a mild panic, I wasn't ready to go back behind the curtain again and be ignored, barely surviving on the memories of entertaining the children. After a split-second of consideration, I sprinted down the hallway towards Robin's office. The door was wide open, and jumped into the office. I tried speaking to her. I don't remember what I was trying to say, exactly. I had stupidly forgotten that we couldn't say anything to people that wasn't pre-recorded into our voice box. If we tried forcing any other words out, it would just sound like a high-pitched screeching noise. Not a nice sound on the ears. 'Specially human ones. But that's exactly what my words sounded like to Robin. Just violent screaming. I remember her shrieks of terror in response quite vividly. I could see her trust and fondness for me just melt away like a wax candle… that had been shot by a flamethrower. She was so in shock that she actually fainted right there. My heart sank (metaphorically speaking, of course). I realized what I had done. Everyday I regret going into that room. I regret running down the hall to get to her. I regret ever leaving Pirate Cove.

Robin wasn't exactly showing signs of waking up anytime soon. I had given that poor lass quite the fright, to say the least. I didn't want Freddy, or Bonnie, or Chica finding her. I closed the door on the right side of the room to keep them out. I wanted to leave her alone, so when she woke up, I didn't scare her further. But I also had to close the left door. I thought I could close it from outside by pushing the button and quickly pulling my hand away. This genius little strategy resulted in me getting my hand almost cut off. It got caught under the door, and pulling it out resulted in it getting stripped over its covering. I ran back to Pirate Cove, and hid myself away for the rest of the night. The next morning when the manager arrived, Robin promptly quit. The tone her voice tore me up. But it was nothing compared when she said, "I was wrong about that pirate fox! Thing tried to kill me! God, I can see why you put it out of order." The manager let her go. She seemed so relieved that she'd never have to see me again. Slammed the door on the way out and everything.

I spent the entire rest of the day in some half-awake daze, staring at the ceiling. I didn't realize it had been the entire day until the lights went out. What seemed like the second I heard the last person leave, I was violently jolted out of my weird haze when Freddy himself ripped the curtains open and grabbed me! He was screeching, and shouting something about "ruining everything" for him. "You ruined our game" I think were his words. That bear was just going _ballistic._ Shaking me violently back and forth, just screaming at me. Calling me names I couldn't even make out. I couldn't make out most of what he was saying, he was screaming in such rage-induced incoherency. I was too petrified to even make the pitiful attempt to fight back. I remember that I finally tried to shove him away, at least. I think he was about ready to tear my head off until Chica grabbed him and held him back. She yelled something at him, I think it was, "Freddy, stop! He's not worth it!" Once it seemed that Freddy was calm, Chica let him go. But he wasn't about to just walk away and let me be. No, no. He had to sock me in the eye first. Chica grabbed him and pulled him away again. I couldn't immediately tell at all, but Freddy certainly did some damage. All that shaking didn't do a thing for my dry-rotted covering. And as for my eye, well, I couldn't move my right eyelid anymore. It was stuck halfway down. Another bit of damage to add to the list was all it was to me.

After that ordeal, I was ready to vow to never leave Pirate Cove again. What was the point? Freddy wanted to maim me, Bonnie and Chica still weren't especially fond of me, and I had driven the only person I was getting any scrap of affection from away forever. I figured that if I spent about a decade being ignored and hated by literally everyone so far, I could survive another.


	2. The New Guy

Chapter 2 – The New Guy

The really sad thing in the whole situation was that Freddy, Bonnie, and Chica, and I all used to be friends. Which is humorous to me considering that I was designed to be the _villain _of our little cast_. _But after hours, we were all buddies. Chica and I were especially close, which is maybe why she pulled Freddy away when he tried to rip me apart. She still doesn't like me, I can tell, but I think she feels more "betrayed" by me than anything else. I think she'd rather me suffer alone than be torn asunder by Freddy. Personally, the two sound equally as grueling to me. Either way, I'm completely detested by those who were once my best and _only _friends. I'd probably get over it well enough if I didn't have to, you know, live with them every hour of the day and night. Hey, I'm finally being treated like the villain I was designed to be, I suppose.

It didn't take long for management to find another night guard. Never saw the bloke, but I did hear him plenty. His name escapes me, but I remember him sounding rather enthusiastic about taking the job. He thought it sounded kind of fun. I wish I had his blissful ignorance. Unlike Robin, he had to sign a contract. I don't know what it said, I just overheard the manager telling him to sign it. All I know is that it was something about an agreement to stay more than two weeks.

The night the new guard started, I wasn't even going to leave the Cove in interest of my own safety. I was just going to stay in my corner and not "ruin" anything for Freddy. I know those three knew I wasn't coming out, I hadn't for days before. But during that night, Bonnie came around and flung the curtains open. That rabbit didn't look a bit happy to see me. He gave me what I think was supposed to be an intimidating look and told me, "Better stay in here tonight, Fox. Freddy doesn't want you spoilin' our fun like you did before!" I told him that I was well aware that bear wanted me to have nothing to do with anything in his ridiculous game. Bonnie said, "Good. 'Cause Chica ain't gonna be there next time to save you," before he closed the curtains back up and went on his way. Honestly, I just rolled my eyes. If any of them thought they were going to sound the least bit threatening, well, they _might have, _but at that point, I had grown so numb to it, I didn't notice if they were or not. I wasn't going to _do _anything, they knew that! I don't know why they were trying to strike _fear _into me, just seemed like a massive waste of time. What did they possibly have to threaten me, anyway? Not like I had anything.

Didn't hear any screeching or hollering for the first week, the new guard did just fine. Poor bloke didn't have it so easy the next week. See, this is about the time I think the restaurant began losing money. Can't _imagine _why… So part of the corner-cutting was installing a battery so that the guard was forced to limit his power-consumption. Felt sorry for the guy when I found this out, but Freddy certainly sounded happy. Hadn't heard him that happy in a while! Boy always like the dark better anyhow, never knew why. The new guard hadn't been there terribly long at all, and I didn't really care much about him. I still wasn't exactly over scaring Robin away, and hadn't been paying enough attention to bother getting to know to the new guard. But when I heard about this battery business, I started feeling a bit worried for our new friend now that he only had so much electricity during the night.

I've obviously never been in it for very long, but that whole office back there uses up power. The doors are electric, the cameras obviously take up power, the hall lights, that fan that got its button stuck and now no one can figure out how to turn it off, the little ceiling light, everything. I dearly hoped they filled that battery up well, because I wasn't entirely sure how it was going to last him a whole six hours.

Even better, this is when Freddy thought up a little spin on his game. Starting Monday, he would tell Bonnie and Chica to take it easy on the guy, but as the week progressed, they would study what he did and how he worked and report back. Cunning little brain Freddy had, though I still wasn't sure _why_ he was doing any of this. Just something to keep them from being bored, I supposed. I can respect that. But Freddy was an exceptionally malicious animatronic. Methinks he had some deep-seated rage problems. That or he was severely malfunctioning, but God forbid we get maintenance in here. At the time, I actually had no idea what they would ever do with a guard if they caught them. All I heard was that ominous "one of us" malarky. I supposed Bonnie and Chica knew what he was talking about, but lord knows I didn't. I was just hoping it wasn't anything too terrible. But I soon learned! Oh, how I did learn.

I learned on a Friday, actually, I remember. I only remember that much because I recall the manager giving our new guard his paycheck that day, and also because Freddy was especially out-and-about that night. He only really ever came out anymore at the ends of weeks once he had learned enough about how the guard was working. That night was the first time the battery ever ran out. I was just lying on the stage in Pirate Cove, staring at the ceiling that so badly needed repainting, when everything suddenly went pitch black. I sprung up, quickly realizing what had happen. Then I heard a little jingle start playing. I thought it was just in my head at first. I was waiting any minute to be welcomed with open arms into the realms of "Officially Snapped", but I quickly recognized the tune. Didn't know how I didn't recognize it from the first note, honestly. It was Freddy's little tune. Well, it was actually the tune to, I think, the overture of an opera if I'm not mistaken? It was also one of Freddy's little songs, because the people who wrote our songs were talentless hacks. Ahem. Anyhow, that was normally the tune he would sing his little "goodbye" song to for the kids before we closed. Why would he be playing it now?

I just took one small peak, just to see what was going on. I didn't see Bonnie or Chica roaming around anymore, but I did hear Freddy's jingle echoing from down the hall. At my own risk, I stepped off my stage, and peered down into the hallway. In the midst of the darkness, I saw two flickering lights. The lights of Freddy's eyes as he stared into the watchman's office. What in lord's name was that boy doing? But just as he was finishing, 6am hit and he was automatically shut down.

Ah, yes, perhaps I should explain this. See, Freddy, Bonnie, Chica, and I have a sort of free-roam mode. But for those three, they're only set on it at night, as well as being set on a timer. That timer is programmed to start at 12am and end at 6, where it will then make the three automatically shut off. However, I'm not set on a timer, I'm always on free-roam mode. This is because the day I bit that poor little girl's head, I was already set on free-roam. I was forcibly shut down when I started malfunctioning, but they didn't change my settings when they tossed me back into the Cove. I was later switched back on for them to see if I still worked (you know, after I was hit with a crowbar and tackled to the ground). Don't remember why, whether it was out of fear or something else, I, for some reason, chose not to move. They assumed I was broken, and just left me as I was. Power on, and set to free-roam, and they were none the wiser. Though management might just be incompetent considering that Robin _clearly _informed them I was on and able to move, and they still didn't come to shut me down. I guess they just _plumb forgot_. Or perhaps they just didn't believe her. Poor girl.

_Anyway_, Freddy had shut down, and the guard's shift had ended. I could hear sound of the manager unlocking the door, and quickly hid back in the Cove. I made sure not to make a sound, I wanted to hear every word the guard had to say about what has happened.

The manager came in and said to the guard that he had his paycheck. The guard just said, "Okay, thanks, but I have to tell you what just happened. The battery went dead, and then the bear–"

"Freddy," the manager _insisted _he be called.

"Freddy, sure, whatever," the guard continued with his story. "Freddy was just at my door, and he was playing this _song_, it went like…" He then imitated the song Freddy had been playing.

"Oh, that!" the manager said. "That's just the tune to Freddy's goodbye song. He plays it for the kids every evening. I guess he knew your shift was almost done, so he just wanted to play it for you before you left. He was just saying goodbye to you!" Yes, I'm sure he was…

The manager then proceeded to ask the new guard if he wanted to work the weekend shifts for some overtime. The guard passed, but promised he'd be back on Monday. For his sake, I was hoping that was a lie. Sadly, it was not.

The following night, I was glad we were alone. I had a few questions for the others. I looked out the curtains, and saw Chica. She didn't like me much better than others, but I was glad it was her and not Bonnie or Freddy. At least I felt I could trust her an iota more than, say, Bonnie. I called her over, and she surprisingly complied. "What do you want, Foxy?" she asked me. I then asked her what exactly Freddy thought he was doing playing his little song and standing menacingly at the watchman's door. "That's part of our game!" she told me. "See, our game is that we all try to catch the night guard. And if we haven't caught him by the time the power goes out, then Freddy gets to catch him, and he wins!"

"Why does Freddy get to win?" I asked, genuinely curious.

"Because that's the rules, Freddy said so," Chica told me. Didn't exactly clear up much. It still made just as much sense. That is, to say, _no _sense. But Fazbear wills it, I suppose. "And you see, when one of us catches the guard, we take him to the supply closet, and put him in a Freddy suit!" she told me.

…Was I hearing that right? _That _was their plan? Why? What would that accomplish? See, I was concerned because these suits we wear over our metal skeletons are filled with wires, hooks, sharp metal bits, and all kinds of things not kind to human flesh. "Excuse me?" I asked. "You are aware that would most likely kill him, right?"

"That's what makes the game so _fun!_" Chica just sounded so giddy about this. It was downright disturbing hearing my old friend talk like this. She never used to be this delightedly grim.

I didn't want to hear anymore. I simply just replied, "Alright then! I won't interfere," and closed the curtains. Good lord, I knew Freddy had a few screws loose, but this was downright _insane. _Is this what they were going to do with Robin too had they had the chance to catch her? Cripes.

I was dwelling on what Chica had told me all weekend. He words, just repeating and swirling around in my head. I knew I was probably putting my very life on the line by doing it, but I had to warn the new guard somehow. After the others shut down, and before any employees arrived, I ran down to the back office and quickly wrote up a note warning the guard. I prayed he'd believe it. It read:

_Dear new guard,_

_ I know this will sound crazy, but what I'm telling you is true. You may have noticed that the animatronics here seem to be trying to get to you. Whatever you do, do NOT get caught by them. If one of them catches you, they're going to shove you into a Freddy Fazbear suit. See, it's against the rules for any of the metal skeletons to be without a costume. Their vision's not very good in the dark so they think you're an endoskeleton. Being stuffed in a costume would most likely kill you. Don't believe me? Check out the costumes in the supply closet for yourself. My advice to you would be to quit as soon as your contract is up. Be safe, please._

_–An Ex-Watchman_

Obviously, I couldn't give him all the facts, and had to make a lot up, but it was the only way to make it sound even slightly believable. And judging from his cautiousness and visit to the supply closet afterwards, I'm quite sure he did believe it. He also told the manager that he needed to leave as soon as his contract was through, which the manager begrudgingly agreed to.

From then on, during the nights, I would peek out the curtains of the Cove from time to time, just to check on everything. After the guard noticed I was doing this, he checked on me periodically. I was quite enjoying the attention, but I made sure not to get addicted to it, like I did with Robin. Didn't want to make the same mistake twice. However, I did get concerned one night, when I noticed the little light on the camera wasn't going on. Did Freddy or one of the others get to him? It was so early in the night, how would they have gotten down there so fast without me hearing a thing? Worry got the best of me, and I raced down the hallway to make sure our night guard was still in one piece. When I got down there, the door was shut. I didn't know if that meant he was in there, or if one of the others were, and they were just trying to keep me out. I pounded on the door, hoping to get some kind of response. Before I even got that chance, Bonnie came stomping down the hallway. "What are you doing out of your corner?!" he shouted at me. Without saying a word in response, I sprinted back down the hall, straight past Bonnie, and back into the Cove. In a way, it pays to have some of these huge pieces of my covering missing, certainly makes me a better runner.

But my concerns, at this point, were getting the best of me. I wasn't attached to this guard like I was with Robin, but the idea of what Freddy was going to _do _with him if he caught him… These costumes were made for someone with a durable metal skeleton, like me, not someone with soft easily tearable flesh, like the guard. I wouldn't wish that on any human being. There was another night, where I saw the camera light going on and off quite a bit. This got me worried because I thought he had maybe lost track of one of the others, and was frantically looking for them on all the monitors. I knew that there were no cameras by the office doors, and if one of them was out of sight, they may very well be right outside his doors. This thought just stuck in my head for some reason, and I convinced myself that that was exactly what was happening. Again, I ran down the hall to the office. I watched him close the door, so I knew he was okay. I knocked on it, and was about to say something to him, but then remembered words would just sound like shrieking to him. Didn't want to give the guy a heart attack, after all. And just like last time, I got yelled at by one of the others, and made my way back to my little corner before Freddy got another chance to unleash hell on me.

The days passed. I kept poking my head out of Pirate Cove every now and again. Mostly when I was concerned that he wasn't checking me enough, and I thought something might have happened to him. But I progressively became less and less nervous about the situation, as this watchman had proven himself to be quite good at all this. He only lost power a couple times, and thankfully 6am hit before Freddy could do anything. I would obviously never say this to him, but maybe Freddy would actually _win _the game if he didn't waste all that time menacingly playing his song before attacking. Finally, our the guard was on his last week. I was terribly relieved, and hoping that management wouldn't hire another night guard after this. I didn't want the others taking out their aggressions on innocent people. I mean, that's what _I _was there for (apparently). During this last week, I thought I heard the guard talking to himself in his office. It sounded like he was repeating a lot of what I told him. Didn't realize it at the time, but he was actually recording instructions for the next guard that came after him. Very smart of him. Saved me some trouble, at least.

The week was going surprisingly smoothly. I felt so glad for the guard that he would finally be rid of this terrible job soon. However, I don't think Freddy felt the same way. On the Thursday of that week, not long after the place closed, Bonnie and Chica promptly hopped off the stage and headed straight for the office. I rarely saw them _leave _the halls that night. Finally, I saw Bonnie at least back out. He told Freddy that night was running out, and the guard wasn't opening for anyone. I peeked out of my curtain, and looked right at Freddy, I could just see the unadulterated rage _burning _in his baby blue plastic eyes. Freddy didn't say word, he just _bolted _down the left hallway, throwing Chica out of his way as he did. Freddy wasn't planning on waiting until the last second tonight, he was determined to have that night guard _dead._

Naturally, I sort of… panicked. And in full view of Bonnie and Chica, I darted down the right hall. I didn't even think how I was going to do it, I just needed to warn the guard _somehow_ of Freddy. But as soon as I got down there, the door slammed in my face. I didn't care that Bonnie was shouting at me, I was sticking to my guns on this one. I pounded at the door. I could hear the guard recording another message, I wasn't paying attention to what he was saying though. I beat on the door harder, several more times. I just needed to warn him. Or at least get Freddy's attention so that he would get so angry with me for trying to interfere, he'd come over and tear me apart instead, buying the guard some time. I knew why the guy wasn't opening the door, but at the same time, all I was thinking was _why won't he open the door?_

Just then, I heard Freddy beginning to play his little song. Why was he doing this? The power wasn't out. Hadn't the guard closed that door yet? Was it broken? What? Song didn't play for very long either, after only a few seconds, it stopped, _immediately_ followed by_ screaming._ Lots and lots of_ screaming_, and not all of it was the guard's. Freddy's screeching at the guard, how _delightful _that sound was. The screaming from the guard didn't last long at all, weirdly. I don't know if the guard was dead or Freddy just knocked him out. I couldn't see what was going on in there, but it didn't sound pretty. I heard what sounded like the desk falling over, and plenty of more bumping around. Heard a few things snap, if I recall. I heard Freddy _gleefully _say, "I got him! I win! I win!" I then heard Bonnie and Chica cheering from the dining room. I didn't even want to be remotely associated with what they were going to do next. As soon as I knew it was safe, I scurried back into Pirate Cove, sure that Freddy would surely have _something _to say to me later.

I had taken every precaution I could for helping this guard. I had given him that note, and I tried to make sure everything during the nights was going well. There was nothing much outside of that I _could've _done. Yet I still felt guilty. I just felt so helpless. I didn't want anyone working the night-shift in this dreadful place ever again. I felt like the only one who ever saw the madness. Even if I did think myself crazy at times. At the very least, I wasn't _sociopath. _Good God.

We opened late that day. I'm surprised we opened at all, to be honest. I mean, a man was _murdered _on the property. What kind of goddamn sicko would actually open the place? But we opened late due to, you know, police activity, scooping the mangled corpse of the guard out of the Freddy suit the he had been stuffed in.

When the paramedics were carting the guard out to the ambulance, I heard one of the police officers there say to another, "Hey, isn't that the Pirate Cove thing? Didn't that have the fox that bit that little kid's forehead off? Why the hell haven't they taken _that_ thing out yet?!"

I don't know, officer! That's a _very_ good question.


	3. On the Brink

Chapter 3 – On the Brink

When we finally did open later in the day, after the medics and policeman cleared, things continued as normal. The kids came in after their day at school, and Freddy, Bonnie, and Chica played their little songs for them. Peeked out of my curtains that day to watch the band play and to watch the kids have fun. Hadn't done that in awhile, I mostly just listened. Always did warm my metaphorical heart to see the kiddies so happy. Wish I could've been out there performing for them myself again, making them smile. Could've used it that day, especially.

It is always an odd sight to see Freddy go from this child-friendly adorable mascot, shouting cheesy catchphrases, to the madman he became at night. And trust me when I say, the following night was no exception to that.

Midnight hit, we were without a guard, and the doors had been locked up good and tight. This night, I was feeling brave. Instead of lying in the Cove, finding shapes in the cracked ceiling or etching pictures into the wall, I decided to take a walk around the pizzeria for the first time since I was forbidden from performing. I took a slow walk around the tables. Memories of children laughing and singing along with my silly little sea shanties came flowing back into my mind. But then memories of what the employees here were now calling the "Bite of '87" came back as well.

I hadn't thought about that in a long time. Intentionally, at least. Tried to block it out. One way or another, the memory always worked its way back. Becomes hard to forget why I was stuck living in the corner everyday. That day left me with a broken jaw, broken shins, a hole in my chest, the loss of many a fan, and the respect of my closest friends. You'd think that would all be punishment enough, right? Aside from throwing me in the dumpster out back, there wasn't much else that could be done. However, Freddy's personal well-worn philosophy seems to be that of "kick em' while they're down." And, oh, how he loved to practice that philosophy on me.

I was running what was left of my hand hand across the table as I walked down the aisles in-between them. Continuing to reminisce about when the place first opened up and wishing I had tear ducts to I could cry about it. But out of seemingly nowhere, I heard the deep, growling voice that only Freddy Fazbear could possess say, "What did you think you were doing last night, Foxy?" I just looked up at him, then looked back down at the table, staring at a little crayon drawing a child had left. I didn't feel like talking to him.

Freddy came closer, grabbed my chin and forcibly turned my head to him. "Answer me," he said. Not in the mood to deal with Freddy's petty concerns, I jabbed his hand with my hook, and he soon pulled it away. I don't know what I was thinking either. He glanced down at me and said, "Feisty tonight, aren't you?"

Just to satisfy myself, I decided to answer his first question. "If you must know what I was doing," I said. "I was trying to keep you from doing what I _knew _you were doing. But as you know, I failed on that front. So, congratulations, you won your game. I hope you had fun." I tried turning around and going on my way, thinking our little conversation was over, but Bonnie was right behind me. I was in no mood for them that night. Or any other night, for that matter. But at this point, it had just become taxing more than anything else. For once, I just wanted a night where I didn't have to put up with their tripe. But I guess we all knew that just wasn't going to happen. I was going to try to just simply walk past Bonnie, but the lad shoved me back over in Freddy's direction.

"Foxy, is this going to become a thing with you?" Freddy asked me. "Every time we try to have fun during these dull nights, you try to interfere and spoil our game. Why is that, Foxy?"

"I don't know about you, but I wouldn't call 'murder the security guard'a fun little game," I replied.

I heard Bonnie mumble, "Says the guy who bit a kid's head off." All I did was turn and shoot him a silently hostile look. Freddy grabbed my shoulders and turned me back, he really wanted me to look him in the eyes for some reason.

"All I'm asking is that you just stay out of our business," he said. "Is that so much ask?"

"_Your _business?!" I shouted, truly just on the edge of toleration, and losing my balance quite quickly.

Chica was on the other side of the table, she told me, "Foxy, don't!" She sounded like she maybe actually cared about what Freddy would do to me, but I still wasn't going to listen to her. If she cared about me at all, she should've actually acted like it.

"I don't think it's _your_ business to tell me what _my _business is!" I continued. "I live here, I'm part of this little cast, too. It's not my fault that I was left to dry-rot in the corner! I have just as much right to be involved as you or Bonnie or Chica. And if I don't approve of slaughtering a security guard, then dammit I'm going to _show it._"

All Freddy did was sigh, and say, "You know I don't like that tone, Foxy." At this point, I was just so filled with contempt for my former friends, that I just wanted to go back to the Cove and not have to speak to them the rest of the night. I didn't even want to look at them. I tried leaving, but Freddy reached over and grabbed my arm as tightly as he could. "Where do you think you're going, Foxy?!" he said. "We're not done talking!" He yanked me up by my left arm, so we could be face to face. "All I'm asking you is to stop trying to get _involved _with our game. I don't know _why _you feel the need, every night, to try and keep us from it! It's _very _rude!" His voice was becoming more malicious, not to mention patronizing, you could tell he was restraining himself. I would be lying if I wasn't just a _little_ scared at that point, though lord knows, I refused to show it anymore. I didn't want him to think he was winning.

In the process of trying to wriggle out of his grasp, I accidentally kicked Freddy in stomach, causing him to lose his grip on me and stumble backwards. Bonnie grabbed onto me when I fell to make sure I couldn't get away. They weren't done with me. When Freddy got himself balanced again, he turned his head slowly towards me. Oh, the look in his eye, I knew exactly what was coming. But when it came to Freddy, it was impossible to brace yourself. I think Bonnie knew it too, because he let go of me and threw himself to the side the very nano-second before Freddy just _lunged _at me!

And when I say lunged, I mean the lad actually jumped on me, full force, from six feet away and threw himself and me to the ground. He had me pinned down with his full weight, with his hands clenching my head. He was shouting something at me, but since he was in another one of his rage fits (those happen a lot around here), he wasn't especially articulate. Not that I was really listening, I was more focused on _not_ getting mauled. He grabbed me by my neck, and hoisted me in the air. I don't know what he thought grabbing me by the neck would _do_. We're animatronics, it's not like I could be strangled to death or anything.

He brought me what I think was only about a half an inch from his face. Said something like, "I don't know _why _you're even kept around here, you horrible fox!" with the burning rage of a thousand suns. He then proceeded to twist me around, and _rip off _my tail. The whole thing. And the tail wasn't just part of the costume, I had a special attachment on my endoskeleton so I could move it. And he just grabbed it and tore it right off its rig, snapping the wires and everything, like it was just poorly scotch-taped on. The surge of pure pain was _indescribable. _

I couldn't take this anymore. I really couldn't. As petrified as I was of Freddy, I couldn't take his little temper-tantrums anymore. It killed me to do this, but I got as close as I could to him, and chomped right down on his nose as hard as I could with a broken jaw. He screamed out, and threw me halfway across the room. When I was able to get up off the floor, Freddy threw my detached tail right at my face. Then he came _running _right toward me. Was he really trying this again? I mean, come on, Freddy. It didn't work so well for you the first time. The second he got within an inch of me, I was able to stop him in his tracks by piercing my hook through right through his chest. I then went off on a tirade, that I remember quite clearly, but for some reason, I don't even remember saying it myself. "Listen to me, Fazbear!" I screamed out. "If you want me dead, why don't you just go ahead and do it then?! If you want me out of the way, I invite you to just tear my head clean off right now! It'll serve me right, I'm sure!" We stared each other down for a few moments in total silence. Neither of us making any kind of move. Bonnie and Chica were staring, frozen in place. Believe me, I was as surprised as they were. I continued on though, "But if all you want to do is rip me to shreds and then leave me to suffer in the corner, half-dead, then don't bother! I don't need you beating me up, believe me, I do the job good enough for both of us. Now, this hook is what ripped the gaping rusted hole in my chest, and unless you want a matching one, I suggest you keep the hell away from me."

Now, of course, Freddy didn't look especially intimidated by a someone a foot shorter than him, at least in a way that he was willing to show. He looked more annoyed than anything. But he did eventually throw his hands up halfway, signaling he was deciding to back off. I removed my hook from his chest, which only made a small, hardly noticeable hole. "Go back to your corner, Foxy," Freddy quietly muttered to me. "Before I bust your other eye." I nodded before storming off and hiding myself back away to the Cove. Wasn't much in the mood for a walk anyway.

I didn't feel safe in the restaurant anymore. I hadn't for a long, long time. But that was the first time I felt my life was actually in danger. Of course, Freddy could come and tear me apart any time he wanted to, that was most certainly a threat. But he wasn't the only reason. When I got back into Pirate Cove, there was a part of my costume under my left arm that was bothering me. I thought something was maybe just out of place, so I poked at it a little, and then suddenly an enormous dry-rotted piece of my covering chipped right off. I think it might have come loose when Freddy threw me across the room. Now, of course, I had been having things break and tear for many years since I was shelved. But never this many in the span of such a short time. My eye, my hand, various holes in my costume. I was getting old. And I didn't have anyone taking care of me like the other's did. If something on them broke, you'd better believe they got it fixed up in no time at all. No employee aside from the night guards had even glanced at me since '87. And even if someone did notice how horrid my condition was, they wouldn't do a thing about it. Why should they?

If Freddy didn't come and do me in himself, then neglect would. And I figured it was only a matter of time before I started glitching up. Tears in my costume are one thing, no one around to repair a damaged AI was another. But I was at the point in this situation where I just _didn't _care. I didn't care anymore. Let Freddy snap me like twig, let my costume crumble to pieces while the wires and whatnots in my head break apart and shut me down for _good_. I don't know if there's an afterlife, and I especially don't know if animatronics can get into it, but anything that would happen had to be better than living the empty life of a born performer being forced to watch, day after day, his ex-best friends put so many smiles on so many children's faces, just _wishing _to God and back that somehow he could join them. I either wanted to be shut down forever and never have to see Fazbear or Bonnie or Chica again, or I wanted to_ live_ again. And I didn't think the latter was going to be happening any time soon.


	4. Mike

Chapter 4 – Mike

Mike Schmidt. The new security guard that was hired after just two days after the previous guard was murdered. I remember his name because at the time he was doing his job interview, I was quietly etching pictures into the wall of Pirate Cove. When he introduced himself, for some reason, I just absentmindedly scratched his name into the wall. Quite a young lad he was. I'd say at the very least, 20. I remember him mentioning to the manager that he was in the middle of college and was an engineering and robotics student, and was doing pretty well it sounded, by the way he was talking about it. Sounded like a smart boy! Also seemed to have some nostalgia for the place. Said he used to come here all the time with his little sister when they were boy, I swear, he was _amazingly _excited to start working here. He got in early on his first night, and was talking to one of the employees about how often he used to come here, and how much he loved it. He was just going around the place, saying what everything was and talking about what he used do with his friends when they would come here together. "There's Freddy and the gang!" he said. "I remember one year I came here for my birthday, and they sang this great version of Happy Birthday, and when you're, like, seven that is the _coolest _thing!" I was glad the lad found a job that he _thought_ he was going to enjoy. I wasn't so glad he _got it_ though…

Now, the first night he worked was not that bad. I knew it wouldn't be, as the same rules as before still applied. Take it easy the first night. Not much to say about that first night either. I stayed in Pirate Cove the entire time, and Mike didn't check the camera on it that often. Lad did a good job for his first day, judging by what I saw. I liked him, his chipper attitude was very refreshing for an employee. Most other employees _hated _working here, and were just doing it in a vain attempt to help pay whatever "student loans" are. I knew this attitude wasn't going to stick after he stayed a few more nights, but I had to take what I could get for the moment.

I really started to like him when after his shift was over, he came out of the office and took another look around the place while waiting for the someone to show up to unlock the door. I heard him say, "Oh, there's Pirate Cove!" before walking up and pulling back the curtains. Someone actually remembered I existed! It was thrilling, but I made sure to stay still. "They still have him!" Mike said, gleefully. "Pirate Captain Foxy! I thought they took you out. Ah man, I gotta tell Lisa you're still here, she was pissed when they put you out of order!" I didn't know who this Lisa lass was, but if she harshly disapproved of Pirate Cove being shut down, then I liked her already. It sounded like she may have been his sister, actually. I heard him mention her a few more times to other employees. Sounded like _I _may very well have been her favorite! It was quite nice to know I still had a fan or two. Ones that were upset when I was tossed to side even. Mike then reached out and ran his hand across the side of my muzzle. "Man, you're a mess," he said after accidentally pulling out a big piece of my artificial fur. "Wonder if you still work…" I saw him glance out the front door, I think he was checking to make sure his supervisor wasn't there yet. Because he then proceeded to turn me around and open up the back of my head. He fiddled with a few switches and such, none of them affected me much, as most of them were broken. He decided to switch me on and off, to see what that did.

When I was switched back on, it felt for a split-second that I was thrown back in time to when I was still performing. My eyes lit up, my head twisted around, and I automatically spouted one of my programmed-in lines, "Yar! _It's me!_ Captain Foxy! Here to make ye landlubbers walk the plank!" Yeah, I was about as much of a stereotypical pirate as one could be. The kids loved it, really.

Mike's face just lit up with delight. "Still works! That is so cool!" he said. Boy was on a serious nostalgia trip. I heard someone unlocking the door, must have been the manager. Mike quickly closed up the curtains. Obviously I couldn't see anything after that, but I heard plenty.

The manager asked, "So, uh, how was your first night, Mike?" Heard a bit of unease in his voice.

Mike replied, "Not bad! I mean, Bonnie and Chica tried to get into the office, but no major problems at all."

"Yeah, don't let them get in," the manager said.

"Trust me, I know!" said Mike. "The last guard recorded some instructions for me, so I know what I'm doing." Odd. Mike seemed to know that the others were a threat, but still sounded happy to have the job. He may have been under the misconception that every night would be as easy as his first night was.

Mike's second night came around, and he got in a little early again. I peeked out the curtain to see him, and just saw him leaning against the stage, looking under the stage curtain, staring at Freddy, Bonnie, and Chica. This made me a bit nervous. I was just hoping he got to the office before one of them went crazy on him. Thankfully, minutes before 12am, he went to his station in the back office.

I was feeling sociable that night, mostly due to the pleasure Mike had shown from seeing me in action the day before. I decided to poke my head out of the curtains, as Mike wasn't checking me very much, I just wanted to let him know I was still there and working. I, for the life of me, do not know why I hadn't yet come to the conclusion that this was a terrible idea. I knew Freddy or Bonnie would see me and probably yell at me. My desire for attention was overtaking common sense, I suppose. Wasn't doing anything too drastic though. Wasn't going to let worry get the best of me like I did with the last guard or Robin, 'less I wanted to scare this poor lad too. Lord knows that the others would be doing plenty of that. Didn't need any help from yours truly.

Honestly, I felt bad for Mike. Working here might've very well destroyed every precious childhood memory he had. However, he didn't seem to mind the first night, and while I wouldn't call the second night "smooth"… well, he lived, didn't he? When his shift ended and he had his little talk with whatever employee came to let him out in the morning (normally the manager), the boy sounded a bit spooked. Not terrified or anything, but Bonnie and Chica were certainly more of a handful than the night before. Can't say I blame Mike, I know I have the same reaction whenever I see one of the others staring at me from outside my little space.

Much of the week was much like the average week with our last guard. Mike got quite good at warding off the beloved characters from his childhood that were trying to horribly maim him. Though there were a number of _very_ close calls. They must have reduced the power in the battery, because the power went out nearly every night after Tuesday. Though thankfully, it was close enough to 6am to where Freddy would shut off before he got a chance to do anything. Poor Mike was sounding more and more jittery as the week progressed, but always told the manager that he was "perfectly _fine_".

I also found that leaving the vicinity of Pirate Cove was the quickest way to distract the others from Mike. If I made it look like I was running down the hall to warn him or even attack him myself (I was never clear on what they thought I was doing, I just knew it worked), it would get their focus on trying to punish me and keeping away from him. True, it likely made Mike think I was coming for him just as the others were, and I don't like people thinking that I'm as dangerous as the them, but… think the boat's sort of sailed on that one. Normally, I was able to run past Bonnie or Freddy down the hall, bang on the door, and rush back to the Cove just fast enough for them to notice me, but so I wouldn't get caught. I like to think that I might have actually bought Mike some time some the week went on, I found I had to do this more and more. Wasn't doing a _thing_ for my rusted knee joints, but I managed. Friday is always the worst, and this week was no different. That was the first time since Mike started working here that Freddy actually made it _into _the office, but 6am hit _just_ in time. Thank God, too. I dearly hoped that Mike knew to quit as soon as his contract was up.

I started to think the lad may have been driven a little _crazy_, because when his supervisor asked if he wanted to work the weekend shift, he actually said _YES. _What was wrong with him? Hadn't his happy childhood memories been crushed enough? Perhaps at that point, they were nothing but dust, so what was the point of even trying to preserve them anymore? Maybe he just _really _needed the money?

Saturday was _atrocious_. I can't remember how many times I had to run up and down that hall just to keep Freddy away from that office door. Animatronics don't get tired, but I think if I made one more sprint that night, my legs were going to fall off. And I mean that literally. The bolts in my knees were coming loose. I didn't realize this until I saw Freddy headed down the hallway again towards the end of the night. I was going to try to run down and distract him, but due to my joints becoming too loose, I lost my balance and tripped. Now, if you've ever heard a 200-some pound robot fall face-first on a hard floor, it's not what you'd call _quiet. _Before I had a chance to get myself up, Bonnie had noticed I had fallen, and came up from behind me. He picked me up by my head with just his right hand, and the left was clasped onto to my right arm, which is the one that had my hook hand. So I was practically defenseless. "Well, well, well!" Bonnie snickered. "Not so sly, huh, fox?" At first, I struggled, but I quickly gave up and just went limp. I wasn't about to even try to get into the mood to deal with another needless assault by another one of these bloody lunatics. If he wanted to rip my arms off or what-have-you, so _be it_. At least, that's how I felt in the moment. It was about that time, the power went out. Bonnie looked down the hallway. I'm guessing Freddy was at Mike's door, because we both heard his little 'goodbye' jingle beginning to play. Bonnie looked down at me with this smug look on his face. What was he so proud of? He wasn't the one doing this.

Freddy's jingle came to a stop. I felt twinge of fear for Mike's life. It stayed silent for a good few seconds. Seconds that felt more like centuries. Bonnie chuckled and said, "Looks like we finally–" before he automatically shut down as the 6am chimes on the little clock tower across the street played. The relief I felt, and I'm sure Mike felt,was _amazing, _even if I was still stuck in Bonnie's grasp. Power returned to the place, and I heard Mike emerge from his office. I turned the lights in my eyes off and played dead as he walked into the the main room. He took one look over at Bonnie and I and just had the most _confused _look. I was thankful when he pulled Bonnie's hands loose, setting me free. I was lucky enough to land on my feet.

Mike just sighed and said, "What a job this turned out to be." I couldn't have agreed more, if I'm honest. He then did something very curious… He began to examine Bonnie, and opened up the back of his head, as he did with me when he switched me off and on. It looked like he was trying to figure out something, as he was picking at the hardware. He stopped once one of the employees came in. What did that boy think he was doing exactly?

I didn't find out until Mike came in especially earlier on Sunday. His shift didn't start 'til 12, and if I'm remembering right, it was only 11. I didn't want him catching me moving around that early, but I risked peeking out the Cove to see what Mike was up to. All I saw was him climb up on the main stage then disappear behind the curtain. I heard noises, some clicking and and the sound of a few screws and bolts hitting the floor. But I had no idea what was going on back there. As soon as I saw him come out and hop off the stage, I closed the curtain and stayed still. A few seconds later, Mike threw the curtains of the Cove open. He had a few tools in his hands. He said, "Hey there, Foxy!" before pulling me over and opening the back of my head.

What was he doing? I couldn't see a thing, and wasn't exactly sure _what _I was feeling. I felt him open up the head of my endoskeleton, and start twisting something. At least, I _think _that's what he was doing. As he was doing whatever it was he was doing, I started feeling very strange. I can't quite describe it, I just remember that my mind was becoming cloudy and I felt weak. While he was doing whatever that was, he must have hit something by mistake, because I suddenly got a jolt of energy and began shouting some of my programmed dialogue, only this time it was coming out just plain _weird. _"Y-Y-Yar! It's m-m-me! Capt-t-tain Foxy-y-y! You k-k-kiddies-s are n-n-ow part of m-m-me pirat-t-te cr-cr-crew!" The lines were coming out glitchy, and the pitch was either far too high or far too low in most places.

"Whoa, there!" Mike shouted. He immediately fixed the problem, and my voice box stopped playing the lines. But I was left dreadfully confused. What _was_ he doing me?! What did he do to the others?! I thought the lad liked us! Maybe I had him pegged wrong, and he wasn't such a nice boy after all. Was he trying to sabotage us!? When he finished with whatever that was, he closed my head back up and went on his way down to his office.

What _had _he _done_? I felt lethargic, I was almost afraid to move, but I stupidly tried to anyway. I tried taking a step forward, but stumbled and ran straight into the wall. I didn't even want to move. I just put my back to the wall and slid down into a sitting position. Was this how the others were feeling too? Cripes almighty. This was just _inhumane. _He may as well have just removed our AI all together. I mean, of course I know that _he_ didn't know how miserable this felt. As far as Mike knew, we were just all malfunctioning robots. Which _was _true to an extent, especially for Freddy. But I wish Mike could've known how unbearable this felt. Eventually, I think I may have just spaced out and stayed in one position the entire night, because before I knew it, sunlight was piercing through the windows in the front of the restaurant. It both felt like it had been too short of a time to be a whole night, and like it was an eternity as well.

Once I realized it was morning, I still didn't move. I barely felt like I could. I did hear the manager come in though. Then I heard Mike come into the room. "Hey, Mike!" the manager said. "Night go okay?"

"Oh, yes!" Mike replied. "_Very _smooth."

There was a small bout of silence before I heard the manager say, "That's funny. Normally at least one of the animatronics is stopped out here." There was another few seconds of silence. "What are they doing on stage? Have they not left it all night? They're supposed to be on free-roam! What happened?"

"Well," Mike began. "I guess when I tried adjusting their AI, I set it so low, that they didn't even want to move on their own."

"Wait, you did _what?!_" the manager shouted. "Mike, tampering the animatronics is _strictly _prohibited!" Mike tried to explain himself, but was instantly cut off. "Mike, put them back to the settings you found them on right now!"

"Okay, jeez…" Mike said. He was closest to Pirate Cove (at least that's what it sounded like), so he started with me. As soon as I heard him approaching, I tried pulling myself up, but ended falling flat on my face. Mike opened the curtain, "Jeez, Foxy, what happened to you?" he asked. He picked me up best he could. He wasn't exactly the strongest lad, but he managed to push me back up on my feet. He turned me around and fumbled in the back of my head again. Twisting things and making sure not to hit whatever that was that controlled my voice box again.

_Finally, _I felt normal again! He closed me up and went off to take care of Freddy, Chica, and Bonnie. It was then I could finally think straight, and I understood exactly what Mike did and why. For one, he trying to keep himself safe, that was finally obvious. He wasn't trying to sabotage us. He was trying to _fix us. _I don't know how it worked on the others, maybe it did work okay, and they were back to normal for that short time. Maybe Freddy wasn't so violent, maybe Bonnie wasn't such a blind follower to whatever Freddy said, and maybe Chica finally knew_ better _like I know she did. I'll never know for sure. What I _did_ know was that I was beyond repair at this point. I realized that I didn't have to worry if my AI would ever glitch up or start malfunctioning, I already _was_ malfunctioning. Just maybe in a different way than the others were. I wasn't sure, it's difficult to explain. This wasn't _normal, _this was just what I was used to at that point. I had been on and set to free-roam for so long that going back to my original settings so quickly like that felt sickening. That's how it _actually_ felt to be normal. Remember when I said that I thought that maybe I had gone crazy? Well, I finally got my confirmation. I was much more surprised than I think I should've been.

All I am is a cheap animal animatronic made to entertain kids. That's it. I shouldn't feel sad or angry or even happy. Yet I did, and I wasn't sure why. The same goes for the others. I don't think I'll ever get an answer to this little mystery, and I'm not exactly sure I even want one. I'm almost afraid of the answer.

I'm glad Mike did what he did to keep himself safe. Though I don't think he was glad. Because when I peeked out of the Cove, he was getting handed a pink slip. I had seen other employees get that before, and I knew exactly what it meant. And I don't feel that it was wrong at all that I was actually happy with this. "I'm fired?!" Mike said, crushing the slip in his hand.

"Sorry, Mike," the manager said. "We take our rules very seriously, and you broke a big one. Sorry to have to let you go."

Mike sighed, turned in his uniform, and walked out. Felt sorry for the lad, but if I was him I would've been overjoyed to be able to get out of my contract so easily. And after only a week, too! I think the boy was sad that he finally found a way around his problem and then was _fired_ for it. Mike was an excellent guard, and a very smart boy, and I surely do hope he found himself a job with 100% less sociopathic killer robot bears.

After he came in for his last paycheck the next day, I never did see Mike again. Which is a bit of a shame, like I said before, I liked the lad a lot. It was invigorating to see someone who knew who I was and was happy to see me. If you ask me, he should've gotten a job in maintenance, _lord knows, _we could use someone.

I began dreading getting yet another night guard. Just another someone for me to pointlessly try and protect until they either get fired, killed, or survive long enough to quit. I was wishing Mike had just shut me off while he was messing with my head so I wouldn't have to put up with it. But I then I heard the manager mention to another employee that they weren't even going to be hiring another guard. They were just going to spring for better locks for the doors. _Hallelujah._

However, I then heard him say something that was… most troubling. To say the very least. He said, "Why bother hiring another? It's hardly fair to them. I'd hate to get a new one right before we close completely in December."

…Pardon?


	5. Silent Nights

Chapter 5 – Silent Nights

Close? What did the manger mean _close? _What was happening? Did he maybe just mean those two weeks when we were closed for Christmas and the New Year? While I was terrible at keeping track of the time for the most part, I knew it was getting close to that time of year. The restaurant was kept very warm during the autumn and winter, almost too warm sometimes. And I could feel them progressively cranking up the heat more and more. Not to mention the quick chill from the air that blew in whenever someone opened the front doors. It was getting close to winter. Which meant it was getting closer to Christmas and the New Year. We always closed for a good couple of weeks around that time. That's surely what he meant! I got that idea in my head and made stick there as to not worry myself any further.

The day continued as normal, the band played, the kids had their fun. While I had convinced myself that "closed" was just referring to our two week winter break, I still felt this type uneasiness all day. Like I felt I was lying to myself about this (which I most certainly was, but I wasn't supposed to know that). The day ended, all the employees left, and they locked the doors.

As soon as 12am hit, and the others switched on, the first thing I heard out of them was Chica shout, "What does he mean we're _closing?!_" I heard Bonnie, of all people, actually burst out crying. That was a bizarre experience, hearing Bonnie, someone who's encouraged Freddy's physical and mental abuse to me, actually _cry._

"Now calm yourselves!" Freddy told both of them. "Maybe we just misheard him!"

"Freddy, he _clearly_ said we were closing in December!" Chica said.

"Well, it… it might just be for maintenance!" Freddy argued. "I mean, this place _does _need some fixing up! And hey, maybe they'll finally wash our costumes."

"But what if you're wrong?!" Bonnie cried. "What if we _are_ closing for good! Oh god, what'll we do?!"

"Would you stop your sniveling?!" Freddy shouted. "For the love of God, Bonnie! 'Close' could mean a lot of things! We shouldn't just _jump _to conclusions like that!"

I decided to chime in. I didn't think it was a good idea, but hey, why not, right? "You know," I said. "I just thought he meant when we close for Christmas and New Years. We're closed for almost two weeks. He maybe just worded it badly."

"Hey, yeah!" I heard Chica say. "That could be it! Freddy's right, we shouldn't jump to conclusions. And Foxy's probably right, too, about the holidays thing!"

"Hrm, Fox may actually be right about something…" Ooh, I heard that low bitterness in Freddy's voice. It just killed him that I may have said something right for once, I could tell. And God help me, I loved it.

Bonnie finally calmed down. Which is good, because it sounded like Freddy wanted to rip his ears clean off if he didn't stop whining soon. There was a good few minutes of eery silence among us. They had no night guard to play their game with, and no reason to take any frustration out on me. I'm sure Freddy or Bonnie could've come up with a silly excuse, but I think the both of them had bigger things on their mind that made them feel a bit more merciful towards me that night. Chica finally broke the painful silence by saying, "So… now what do we do?"

"I don't know," said Bonnie. "No night guard tonight… Freddy, what do you think? What should we do?"

"Sit here and wait for morning, like we always do when there's no guard," Freddy replied. No one dared argue.

It was a very quiet night. The others talked amongst themselves every once in a while, but not very loudly, not about very much, and never for very long. I think that night held the record for calmest I've ever heard Freddy speak. Guess he wasn't much in the spirit of going bloody mad that night.

After six slow hours, 6am finally hit, and another day passed as normal as any other day. I sat in the corner, stared at the ceiling, etched pictures in any remaining wall space I could find, while I listened to everyone else have fun. Some may wonder if I ever got sick of listening to the same songs day after day. Well, I do think it contributed in driving me to madness (I may have mentioned before, but our song's weren't especially good), but at this point, I barely hear them as songs anymore. It's more white noise than anything.

Days just came and went as usual. Nights were disturbingly noiseless, as Freddy and the others didn't have much to say to each other beyond how today's show went. And that didn't go on for very long. Of course, they were all best friends, but it's hard to come up with things to say when you've all been stuck in a small room for twenty-plus years and have no reason or ability to go outside.

When the night guards were here, I could always tell what day it was. Friday was always payday for the guards, and I kept track of the days that came afterwards. If Freddy didn't come off stage, and Bonnie and Chica weren't being especially aggressive toward a guard, then it was probably Monday. I had no idea what day it was anymore. Once in awhile I heard one of the employees mention getting paid, so I assumed that meant it was a Friday, but other than that I had a difficult time keeping up. Every night and day was just about the same as the next, but then one night, late, I randomly peeked out the curtains and glances out the windows. I was pleased to find that snow was falling.

I hadn't seen snow in a long, long time. All of my autumns and winters the past few years were spent in the darkness of Pirate Cove. I stepped out and walked towards the front windows. You could see the snow coming down in the light of the street lamps. It was a gentle, serene sight. Exactly what I needed. I stood there for quite awhile too, just watching the snow pile up in total silence. I always did wonder what snow felt like. Rain too. And sunlight… Listen to me! This is another sign that I'm most definitely malfunctioning, these schmaltzy poetic thoughts about wondering what the outside world is like. Suppose after twenty years in one place, and however many of those spent behind a curtain, one's mind can't help but to wander.

Amidst my quiet trance of watching the snow, the silence was interrupted by a voice saying, "Hi, Foxy." I looked over to the stage, and Chica was meekly waving at me as she sat on the edge.

I waved back at her. "Hello, Chica… Freddy, Bonnie," I said. Bonnie didn't say a thing, didn't even look at me. Freddy glanced up at me, didn't say a word, but gave a half-hearted wave. It was _then _Bonnie decided to wave at me as well. "Nice night out, huh?" I asked.

"Yeah," Chica whispered. "Very pretty. They'll be putting up the Christmas lights soon, I'd imagine."

"…Is it December already?" I asked her.

"Yeah, I think it's the fifth," Chica said. "Is that right, Freddy?"

"Hmm?" Freddy turned to her. "Oh, uh, yes, the fifth. That sounds about right," he said.

Hrm. Missed Thanksgiving. I guess that would've accounted for the five day weekend the employees had not too long before. "I guess they will be putting the decorations up soon. That'll be nice," I said.

"We'll be doin' the Christmas show pretty soon, too!" Bonnie said. "Isn't that right, Freddy?"

"That's right, Bonnie," Freddy replied, sounding almost like he was just humoring him.

"I always like doing our Christmas show," Chica added. "The kids always really seem to love it, too." I had almost forgotten about our Christmas show. Every year, during December, they always swapped out the band's regular songs to some holiday-themed ones. Some of them classics, and some original ones that our hack songwriters made up. _Ahem. _But it was always a treat, and something mighty nice to listen to, it was at least _different. _I still remember clearly when I was allowed to participate in those, before going out of order. Had a little duet with Chica and everything. Nowadays, it pains me a bit to hear it being done without me, but it _is _still nice.

I stood at the window, making light small talk with Chica the rest of the night. It was nice to speak to her again. I had forgotten how pleasant she could be, especially after all the night guard fiascos. It's almost as if she was a different person when she was playing Freddy's game. This was more like the Chica I used to be friends with, and it was good to see her back.

Surely enough, the very next day, the employees were asked to break out the decorations and have them up before the place opened. The band's songs were switched to the holiday ones, and when all the kids got in, they just _loved_ it. Did my heart good to see them so excited, even if I couldn't be a part of it.

With the slight change of scenery, no night guard around for the others to try to do horrible things to, no outbursts from Freddy, and Chica actually acting friendly towards me, things weren't as bad as they had been. True I was still stuck in the corner, and bits and pieces were breaking on me all the time (I didn't realize until later, but when I fell on my face when Mike set my AI too low, two of my teeth came loose), but I_ was_ feeling just a tad less down and out. I had the faint hope that things were perhaps getting a little better. Things, of course, were never going to get 100 percent better for me, as that hint of despair knowing that I'd be ignored by kids and employees alike for the rest of my days as I slowly fell apart would always be there, _but _taking what I could get, scraps of enjoyment and happiness were becoming more plentiful.

One especially quiet night, I decided to tighten the bolts in my knees the best I could and take a little walk around the restaurant. I hadn't been able to _walk _around it in awhile, so I decided to take advantage of the opportunity.

I explored the whole place. I went in the kitchen, which was a mess, then I went to the supply closet, which was just plain terrifying, but other than that my little walk was quite nice. The others weren't talking much that night. It was another one of those nights where there was a light snow fall, and the whole city seemed to be asleep. The only sounds disturbing the stillness of it all were the squeaks from my rusted joints.

I decided to just stroll down the back halls, as I had explored everywhere else (hadn't much changed since the 80's). I came to the end of the hallway, where the little office that the night guards used to be stationed in was. I decided to go inside, no one was in it, after all. Why not? Tiny little space that was, though it _was _bigger than Pirate Cove. 'Least the Cove wasn't that _cluttered_. There were some papers on the desk, mostly consisting of pay stubs, and doodles that Mike drew when he still worked here. Weren't bad doodles either, they were actually little sketches of _us_. Quite cute, really.

I saw that there were drawers in the desk, and letting curiosity get the best of me, I decided to pull one open. Mostly junk, I didn't expect much else, if I'm honest. Old contracts, old manuals, outdated legal documents, and box full of old name tags, which I promptly began looking through. I remembered a lot of those employees, and I remembered many of them quit after they saw what my jaw was capable of doing to a child's head. Some of them were more recent, as I found Mike's name tag, as well as Robin's. Oh, I missed her… Missed Mike a bit, too. But I tried to be glad knowing they got out of this place alive, and not on a stretcher like that other poor bloke. Though I don't know why night guards needed name tags…? Oh, well.

I think I may have actually examined every inch I could of that back room, yet never found anything _especially _interesting (aside from maybe some angry letters from parents saying "Would you please take out that awful fox already? I don't want my child getting their head bitten off!", but I'm not about to go into those). There was a clock in the office, and it read 5:15am. I figured that I best be getting back to the Cove. I left out the opposite way I came in.

As I made my way down the hall, I took the time to look at all the little crayon drawings that the kiddies made during their visits. They were all up on the wall, all of them very cute. Some were clearly made by children that had to be as young as three. But something also hanging on the wall caught my eye. It wasn't a drawing, which is why it stuck out to me, it looked like a newspaper clipping. I pulled it down and began to read over it.

Lord, just from the _title _I was stunned. It read: "Local Pizzeria said to close by year's end". … Oh, I was afraid of this. I was right the first time, and I _had _been lying to myself _and _the others. We weren't just closing for the holidays, we were closing for good. I barely even knew how to react, I wanted to cry out of shock, yet I couldn't, because, yes, as much as I never wanted to admit it to myself, I _did _actually see this coming. For a long time, too. I was honestly more surprised it didn't happen sooner, given this place's history of… let's be nice, and call them incidents. But nothing could've truly prepared me for it. My initial thought was, "What do I do now?" Did I tell Freddy, Bonnie, and Chica? Let them know what's going on? Or would that worry them too much? I had so many questions and thoughts and fears going through my head all at once, I couldn't even think straight.

I decided not to do _anything. _It seemed like the logical choice at the time. After all, wasn't much I could do. And I didn't want to worry the others. They'd find out eventually. It was inevitable. But I didn't think they needed to know that second. I was just going to let them have fun with the holidays, and that was all. No need to spoil it with depressing facts.

I pinned the clipping back on the wall, and trudged back to the Cove, as the manager would probably be there soon. I just stood there in the Cove, staring at the wall I had been carving away at for years. My mind still filled with thoughts of what was to come, as well as a flood of the happy memories I had here that was ironically just making me even more upset. But what could I do? Just sit and wait, it seemed. That was all.

Days passed, the others did their Christmas shows, nights were quiet and cold. I didn't move much, and I _really _ran out of space out on the wall to carve pictures. I had taken to scratching up the Cove's stage floor. Not like it would ever be needed again. I didn't leave Pirate Cove much during the nights anymore. I just sat, scrawling, and listening to the kids when they were here, and the employees when the place closed up. Keeping to myself that creeping sense of dread that I was helpless to prevent.

One of the conversations the employees had was not one I wished to be spoken while I was within earshot. One day, just after closing, the manager said, "Jenny, when can your friend come in and help us move this stuff out?" Jenny was his daughter, who worked at the place. She used to be the one who operated me before I went out of order and was allowed to still walk around the dining room.

Jenny replied, "Well, she teaches classes during weekdays, so she can't come in then. But she said she's free Saturday!"

"That's good," the manager said. "Everyone else made up some excuse about being busy everyday this week. And I really want to get all the tables and junk out of here before Christmas. We have to close up by the 31st, and I don't want anything be left in here."

"What about Freddy and the others? When are they getting moved out?" Jenny asked.

"Not entirely sure yet," the manager said. "I called, and they did say they can get them out of here before the New Year, so there's at least that."

They both went quiet. I peeked out the opening in the curtain, and saw them both staring wistfully at the stage, at Freddy, Bonnie, and Chica. Theirs was conversation I would've rather not heard, nor did I want the others to hear it. I knew closure imminent, but I did not want to know every detail of it. It played out badly enough in my head with the information I had, I didn't need it getting any _worse_.

I always said that I didn't care if Freddy tore me apart, or if they took out Pirate Cove completely, and me along with it, or if they just simply shut me off for good. I'd welcome it with open arms. Anything that took me out of my grueling life was _more _than welcome. I'd been out of order for so many years, the kids now were too young to know who I was, most people just thought of me as "that fox that bit that kid's forehead off", and I had so much damage done to me that I may as well had just thrown myself in the dumpster out back. To put it bluntly, I'd always thought I'd be perfectly okay with death. But now that I knew that may actually happen, _I was terrified. _The threat of it made me remember that there were people out there like Mike and his sister who still looked back fondly on their memories of watching me perform, and my friendship with Chica, which I once cherished, could possibly be rekindled given enough time and understanding. I didn't even think of any of this, and now that I did and embraced it, I didn't want to just be shut off and sent off to some junkyard.

The last thing the manager said before he and Jenny left was, "You know, for as much trouble as they've caused us… I'm really going to miss these guys when they're gone."

Merry Christmas…


	6. Shutdown

Chapter 6 – Shutdown

As soon as midnight hit, Bonnie almost immediately started crying hysterically again. "We _are closing!_" he sobbed. "_Why?_ Why is this _happening?_"

"We're still doing well, as far as I know!" said Chica. "Why would they just close the place like this?!"

"Freddy, why are they doing this?!" Bonnie yelled. "Why, why, why, why, _why?!_"

"Would you _SHUT UP?!_" I heard Freddy shout.

I then heard a loud crashing noise followed by Bonnie shouted, "OW!" I immediately jumped up and looked out to see what was going on.

"Freddy!" Chica screamed, angrily. From the looks of it, Freddy either pushed Bonnie off stage or hit him so hard that he fell off. Chica hopped off stage to help Bonnie up. I was not about to insert myself into this conversation.

"What'd you do _that_ for, Freddy?!" Bonnie cried.

"Crying ain't gonna do a thing for you, so just shut your trap, Bonnie!" Freddy screamed.

"I… I thought you said everything was going to be okay…" Bonnie whimpered. He sounded so betrayed. Finally realizing that maybe his best friend wasn't all he thought he was. I know the feeling, Bonnie.

"I _never _said that," Freddy told them. "It was… It was Foxy who said that!" Freddy's finger of guilt hastily pointed in my direction, and I was met with blaming stares. I backed into the Cove just a touch, but knew I wasn't about to get out of this one by just hiding myself away.

"Well, I just thought…" I began, not even having a plan for what I was going to tell them. "I just thought that's what they meant. I mean, I… I didn't say I was sure. I mean, granted I _did_ find out about the shutdown later, but…"

"You _WHAT?!_" they all said, practically in unison. _That_ was mistake to bring up. I hid back in the Cove, purely out of reflex, but was soon yanked out by the neck by Freddy.

"How long have you known about this?!" he screamed, shaking me. Here we go again… This bear never got tired of picking on me it seemed! It was just rinse and repeat with him. Though in this case, I don't think he was even trying to hurt me, personally, he was just _really _frustrated and need to take it out on _something._

"I don't know!" I shouted out. "I'm not good at keeping track of time. Few days, maybe a week or two?"

"A _week _or _two?!_" Freddy screamed. "Is there some kind of _reason _you didn't tell us?!" It was difficult to talk being shaken as hard as I was, so I didn't reply right away. "Answer me!" I _can't _answer you, you mental case! I finally had enough of it, and gashed and sizable hole one of his arms with my hook. He instantly dropped me, but, bloody hell, did he look angry. Chica finally came over, and put a hand on Freddy's shoulder, trying to calm him. Could've used _that_ a few minutes ago. Thanks, Chica...

"Freddy, look," I said, picking myself up off the floor and readjusting my jaw that Freddy had shaken loose. "I didn't say anything because I didn't want you _worrying. _I wanted you to just have some fun with your little Christmas show one last time. I didn't want you to spend that time dreading the future. I wanted you all to concentrate on simply living your lives! We were closing either way, I didn't see how it would matter if you knew later rather than sooner! I just thought I'd be doing my friends a favor, but _apparently_ not."

Upon hearing this, Freddy actually seemed to have calmed down. Chica looked at him with the most concerned expression, which may have influenced what he said next. "Foxy…" Freddy said, almost in a whisper. "Maybe I overreacted." …Freddy was actually admitting he was wrong for acting the way he did? This was certainly new and exciting. "It's not your fault that the place is closing. Entirely, at least. I'm sure the Bite contributed, but I know that's not the main reason. I just would have _liked _you to inform us about something like that. A little notice _would have _been_ nice_. That's all I'm saying." He sounded like he was holding back a lot. All I did was nod and look away. Not the nicest way he could've put it, but if that was the best I was going to get out of Freddy, I'd take it. He was silent for a few moments. Followed by him saying in the most pitiful voice, "I don't know why you can't give me the respect that I'm _entitled_ to. The respect that I get from any one of those children that we put on a show for each day. I don't know _why _that's so difficult for you, Foxy."

Despite what my common sense was telling me, I decided notto lose my temper (too much, that is). I had to think for a second or two about whether or not I should dignify what he had said with a reply. I needed to though. If not for him, then for myself. "Freddy…" I muttered. "I can't give you _anything_ that you haven't _earned_ from me. You have Bonnie, over there. Isn't he enough of a suck-up for you? And Chica seems too _horrified_ to even dare say _no_to you. I don't know why you need _me_ to do anything." Bonnie, who was just standing in the back of the dining room not even getting involved, looked _so _delightfully offended at what I said about him. I will admit, I do regret saying anything about Chica, since she was trying to help the situation. Even if what I said _was _true. "Look, you clearly have some deep-seated rage issues for God-knows-why reasons, that you seem to have no control over. I don't know if it's a malfunction from years of neglect, or just something inside you snapped long ago. But I will not cross you again if I can help it."

Freddy threw his fist up in the air, and I braced myself, knowing that he was probably about to punch my head off for saying anything about him. However, he instead lowered his hand, decided against hitting me it seemed. I could tell he was still angry, but I think he finally realized that striking me wasn't going to change my mind about him or anything else. The last thing he said to me was just a simple quiet "Good" before he walked back to the stage. Chica soon followed him, but not before shooting me the most disappointed expression she could muster up.

I just hid away in Pirate Cove, curled up on its floor all night and all morning, carving into the stage with my hook. The very last thing I heard from any of them was Freddy say, "What do we do now?" in the most heartbroken voice. He received no answer from Chica or Bonnie. I was almost able to feel sorry for him.

We didn't even open that day. Freddy, Bonnie, and Chica stayed shut down. Around what I think was noon, I heard the manager and Jenny come in. It must have been Saturday, because Jenny mentioned her friend was going to be there soon to help move things out.

I heard the door open, and a woman's voice say, "Hey, Jenny!" The voice sounded _very_ familiar, but I wasn't much up for thinking about where I've heard it. I was too concentrated on lying on the floor while staring at the ceiling and scratching up my stage.

It wasn't until I heard Jenny say, "Hey, you mind starting by getting the curtain down off Pirate Cove?" that I decided to actually move. I scrambled up into a standing position and made sure I stood perfectly still when I heard footsteps approaching the Cove. Jenny's friend came over and ripped down the curtain. That's when I knew why that voice sounded so familiar, because who should be right in front of me but _Robin._

What was Robindoing here?! I thought she hated this place! Well, I mean, she was the friend of the manager's daughter who agreed to come in, I got that. But after her night guard experience, I had no idea why she would want to set foot back in here. I know I wouldn't have wanted to. Nonetheless, I was amazingly pleased to see her! Still the same Robin I remembered, still with that bright red dye job and everything. As she folded the Cove's curtain, she looked up at me with a gentle smile, and said, "Foxy! Didn't know you were still here."

"Yeah, we never did take him out," Jenny said. "We couldn't! We just didn't have the heart." Now, this was news to me. I always assumed all the employees hated me, and were just too lazy to ever remove Pirate Cove. Didn't know they were keeping me there because they _liked _me. Not enough to patch the gaping hole in my chest, clearly, but I suppose I can't ask for everything. "But Robin," Jenny continued. "I thought you hated Foxy. You said you thought he tried to kill you or something while you worked here. …Not that that's ever happened here before or anything."

"Yeah, I did think that, actually," Robin said. "When he jumped in the room and screamed at me, I just got so scared that all I wanted to do was quit. I mean, _yeah_, it was terrifying and it's _burned_ into my memory forever, and all. But then I started thinking about it later… When he ran into the room, I passed out. When I woke up, both doors were closed and I _was _still alive. I don't know what he was doing or why he came in the office, but it seemingly wasn't to _kill me_. It was probably just a technical fluke or something, and hey, I can't hold that against him. He's just a robot, right?" This was unbelievable. I really thought Robin _hated _me! But here she was, looking in my direction without a hint of fright, saying that she was wrong about me. It felt like I was making peace with something. Getting closure. Closure that I didn't even know I needed. It was amazing.

She put the Cove's curtain into one of the many cardboard boxes that were strewed about on the floor. With the curtain gone, I could see everything going on, no more having to peek out. The manager pushed in a stack of boxes from the supply closet. They were filled with spare parts and costume pieces, which all looked equally filthy to the ones the others and I were wearing. Twenty years of business and none of us ever got a bath, don't you love it? Jenny opened up a few boxes, just to check their contents. She looked in one of the larger boxes, and suddenly started giggling. "What?" Robin asked, starting to laugh a bit herself. "What's in there?" Jenny then pulled out a stuffed animal. See, Freddy's hosted birthday parties, and whichever child's birthday it was got a free collection of plush toys of Freddy, Bonnie, and Chica. The toy that Jenny pulled out was of _me._ They had a whole big box of little mes!

"I didn't know we still had these!" Jenny said. "We gave away all the extras of Freddy, Chica, and Bonnie last night to all the kids that came for our last day. We haven't given out Foxy plushes since '87. I actually don't have a Foxy, so I'm keeping this one! You want one Robin? We have plenty."

Robin snickered, but replied, "Sure! I still think a fox that's a pirate is a hilariously cool concept. And I _do _seem to have a history with this guy. So why not? I'll _gladly _take one." Upon hearing her delighted response, I turned my head in their direction. Which was a _mistake_, since they could clearly see me now, but I was so used to having curtain over me, it was just a reflex. And Jenny noticed, too. She flinched as soon as she saw my head move. "What?" Robin asked Jenny. Jenny pointed in my direction.

"Foxy! He just moved!" Jenny told her.

"Must've heard us talking about him," Robin joked.

"No, no, he's supposed to be turned off!" Jenny told her, as she walked over to me.

"Wasn't off when I was here," said Robin. "I just assumed you kept them on all the time." Robin then walked up to me to take a look as well.

I had made a mistake, and I figured that I may as well have just owned it. I started moving my head back and forth and my arms up and down. I activated my voice box and just played whatever pieces of recorded dialog decided to play. "Yar! I do hope ye little scalawags had your fun! Because Captain Foxy has decided to join the party! Yarharhar!" This seemed to amuse Robin, so I thought I'd play a little more. "You've sung your last song, Fazbear! I'm in control of this festivity now! 'Less ye want me to make Bonnie and Chica _walk the plank!_"

"That's how he talked? I feel like I would've _adored_ this guy as a kid," Robin said. "I loved pirates when I was little, and foxes were, like, my favorite animal." She then reached out and petted the side of my head lightly.

"Careful, Robin," Jenny said. "He bites."

"So I've heard," Robin replied. She ran her hand from the top of my ear down to my chin, then tilted my head to the side a bit. My neck joints made this awful rusted squeaking sound. "Jeez, he's just falling apart, isn't he?" Robin commented.

"Yeah, that costume of his did not hold up well…" Jenny said, looking over me. "When he bit that kid, the hinges on his jaw must have broken, 'cause that doesn't stay closed on its own anymore. You know, I actually had to _bash_him in his legs with a crowbar we had in the back room to get him down on the ground just so I could turn him off. Since, you know, he went a _tiny bit _out of control that day. …Yeah, this is why I gave up operating the animatronics. They malfunction pretty drastically sometimes."

Robin then took a glance at the wall behind me, and did a bit of a double take when she saw how scratched up it was. She didn't say anything about it though. If anything, she just looked confused. I suppose it was so cluttered at this point, it was practically incoherent to everyone but me.

"So, what's going to happen to him and the other guys over there?" Robin asked Jenny.

"The truck's coming on Tuesday to come get them," Jenny said with a sigh. "Hey, you mind turning him off? I have to go help my dad get the rest of the spare costumes out of the back room. Just open up the back of his head, and undo this little panel on the robot skeleton head. The off switch is under there." Jenny scurried off to the back room, leaving Robin alone to shut me down.

Well, it was finally happening, and I wasn't about to resist it. Shutdown with no clear answer on whether or not I'd ever be switched back on. I didn't _want _this to happen, not anymore, that is. But I didn't know what the truck Jenny was talking about was coming to do. Whether it was a truck coming to take us to a warehouse or something of the like, or to a landfill… Either way, I wasn't about to face that _awake. _If I was going to a warehouse or some kind of storage, I'd be in the silent darkness for lord knows how long until I eventually just stopped working altogether. And if I was sent off to a landfill, I most _certainly _didn't want to be awake for _that_. Robin turned my head around and removed the back of my head's covering entirely. This was finally it. I had accepted it as my fate. No matter how much I didn't want to. "Let's see, where's the little panel?" Robin said to herself as she looked through the inside of my head. "Ah, here it is!" I felt her removed the switch's cover. I felt her finger on it. And I prepared myself.

Suddenly, a loud crashing noise came from the supply closet, followed by Jenny and her dad shouting. Robin completely dropped what she was doing and ran to the closet to help them. I then sighed in both relief and in fear. Relieved because, though I had accepted it, I _was_ still terrified of being shut down after all this time. In my condition, it's a possibility that it would be impossible to ever get me back on again, even if someone wanted to. But I was also scared that if I was never turned off, I would be fully conscious for whatever's to come. When Robin eventually came back in, she seemed to have entirely forgot that she never actually turned me off. I was oddly okay with this. For the moment, at least.

By the late afternoon, they had entirely finished packing up everything in the office, closet, kitchen, stage, and every other corner of the restaurant one could think of. The place was totally empty. All the chairs were gone, as were the tables. The curtain on the others' stage had been torn down. Things on the wall that I had no idea were even removable were gone. It was disturbingly barren. The manager had taken a stack of boxes out to his car, but a few larger boxes were left by the stage to be picked up with the others and me. Jenny and Robin stared at the lifeless room for a long while. I was staring myself, it was a troubling sight seeing the room that had basically been my entire life so empty, and just packed away into cardboard boxes. "Guess this is it," Jenny whispered.

"It's a shame you guys have to close," Robin said. "Aside from the animatronics' behavior at night, it seemed like a nice little place for kids. I know a lot of the kids I teach liked it here."

"Yeah…" Jenny sighed. "Life goes on, I suppose." Yeah, says _you. _"I have to be back here with my dad on Tuesday to let the workers come in to get these guys out of here. But I guess we're done for now."

"Ready to go then?" asked Robin.

"Yup, I am, and I think dad is too," Jenny replied. "Got your Foxy plush?"

"You know I do!" Robin answered, holding the little toy of me up.

"All right, well, say goodbye to Freddy and the gang," Jenny said. "Come next week, they're going to be outta here too."

"Bye Freddy, bye Bonnie, bye whatever-the-duck's-name-is!" Robin said, jokingly waving to the others.

"Robin, Chica's a chicken," Jenny informed her.

"Fine, chicken, sorry," Robin shrugged it off, and went back to saying her goodbyes to the band. "I didn't like that you stared menacingly at me while I worked here, but whatever!" Robin then turned to me and said, "Bye Foxy! Thanks for not killing me that one time! That was really cool of you!" She gave me a thumbs-up. I know this goodbye was just a cute little joke type of thing, she was just having fun, but I personally very much appreciated it. If I had tear ducts, I would've been getting misty eyed. "And in a way, we'll always be together now, won't we?" She held up her plushie and waved its arms around a little. As funny as that was, what she said really got me. Jenny had her palm to her face the whole time Robin was doing this, but I could tell she was laughing.

Jenny and Robin made their leave, and locked the doors behind them. I looked out the windows and watched Robin drive away. It was wonderful to have seen her again, especially knowing that she didn't think so terribly of me anymore. I hated to see her leave, but her goodbye meant more to me than one could imagine. And it was a nice thought that she willingly took that little plush toy of me. From what I could see out the window, it looked like it had its own little place at the front of her car's dashboard.

Robin wasn't the only one to show me any sort of kindness in all my years of being out of order, but she was the first. And it showed me people could, can, and do care about a has-been like me. It was tremendously good to know that I, even to those who thought of me harshly, could recover in their estimation.

Though I did realize that none of them had shut me down, and the back of my head was lying on the floor where Robin had left it. I picked it up and crammed it back onto its proper place.

The lights were out, and the sun had gone down. And soon it would be midnight, and I'd have to face Freddy and the others again. After all, I had no curtain to hide behind anymore. Though the more I thought about it, since we were going to be carted out of there soon enough, I could use the next fews days to maybe finally understand things with them, maybe patch things up as best I could. If we were all shut down for good, we could at least go out as friends. As bad as they'd been to me, I couldn't forget that they _were _once my friends. Very good friends at that.

I could see the little clock tower that always chimed at 12 and 6 out the window. I saw that midnight was approaching, and I prepared myself. When I heard the chimes, I looked to the others on stage. And… nothing. They weren't moving. Like they were still shut down. Perhaps they just didn't want to face the place in the condition it was? I stepped off my stage and slowly approached theirs. "Freddy…" I started. "Bonnie, Chica… Are you awake?" I received no answer. I was becoming more than a little concerned. I climbed up onto their stage, I then shook Chica's arm. "Chica? You on?" I went to Freddy. "Freddy?" Bonnie didn't seem to be anymore awake than either of them. What a fine trove of treasure this was. Their timed free-roam mode appeared to have been deactivated, and they had been shut down all together, and lord knows I didn't know how to turn them back on, or put them on their free-roam mode.

I gave up, and sat down on the side of the stage. I buried my face in my only hand. Just when I was ready to confront them, and maybe apologize, and hopefully get _them _to apologize back, and just try to set things straight between us, _this _had to happen. Logically, I should've just scrapped the idea of this. However… for my own peace of mind, I decided that I had to try anyway. They may not have been activated, but I still foolishly hoped that they could hear me in some way or another. Delusion of grandeur, maybe, but it was for my own sanity if anything.

I slipped off the stage, and turned to look at them. I dropped to my knees and just… began. "Freddy, Bonnie, Chica…" I whispered. "I know you probably can't hear me… but I've come to try to set things right. I know things between us have been a bit _rocky, _to put it in its most basic form. I know that you're all victims of malfunctioning AI, like me. I don't know if that can excuse or justify your actions, but I do understand. I understand that some of the time, you literally cannot control yourselves. Whether or not that influences your actions against me, I don't know, but… Bonnie, I'm sorry I called you a 'suck-up.' You were just being a friend to Freddy, I get that. Chica… I've missed our friendship so throughout the past years, and I hoped that we could patch things up the best we could. I understand why you were scared. And I'm sorry. Now, Freddy… Freddy, what do I even say to you? Whatever snapped in that mechanical brain of yours must have been something fierce. I remember when we used to be friends. I dearly wish I knew what _happened _to you. I wish that there was some way I could've helped you. I don't know what made you so angry at the world, but you have my sympathies. And while I will _never ever _forgive you for all the misery you've subjected me to… I will always remember the person you once were very fondly. I've missed him. I think Bonnie and Chica miss him, too. I'm sorry if it was your malfunctions made you a _deplorable_raging sociopath, but I know deep in my heart that's not who you really are. And with that I ask for your forgiveness for causing you to be confined to the stage, as I know how much you've hated not being able to interact with the kids. Believe me, I know how you feel. So, please, accept my apology, as I would at least _consider_accepting yours had you ever offered it. …And I'm sorry that wasn't more articulate." I stared at the three of them for another few seconds. Their motionless bodies and their half-closed dead eyes. Somehow I don't think my words got through to them. I do have to wonder if they would've ever forgiven me. Personally, I didn't think I should have ever been the one apologizing. But if _they _thought I had done something wrong, then that's what they would've wanted. And I was willing to comply.

I spent the rest of the night looking out the front window at what was left of the snow. The sun came up, and the day just came and went. No employees came in, the others never switched on, the place was dead. Then another night came and went without anything of note ever happening. I was just sitting there in the barren restaurant, no one around, nothing to do but walk the empty halls of this once thriving establishment in total silence. Nothing to do but remember and wait…

As dreadful as the recent years had been, I was not about to allow myself to forget my glory days. When I was allowed to perform for the kids, and Freddy, and Bonnie, and Chica and I were all the best of friends. Like I've mention before, I was the villain of our cast. But at the end of every show, my character would always give in and join them in a friendly song number. The little ones loved it. I loved it, too.

I didn't know what was going to happen to us in the slightest. I just hoped that whatever happened, people would remember us and look back on the place with fondness. I wanted people to think of us like I wanted to think of Freddy. Love us for what we were when the place first opened and everything was new, remember us for what joy we could spread. And not for what we became when everything eventually went to Hell. I was certainly going to try. I knew Mike had fond memories of us, and I knew Robin was going to think of me well. And I suppose that's enough, and I suppose that's all I really needed.

I have many things in my life that I regret. Biting a fan by mistake, scaring Robin away, letting that other night guard die, allowing myself to become distanced from my friends, not helping them through what was possibly the side-effects of their malfunctions, and most of all, wishing every moment for the past few years that someone would've just switched me off already. Because I realized something through the ordeal that had been these past years. There's nothing wrong with feeling miserable, not at all, and I most certainly did feel miserable for a long time. But looking back on it, yes, much of the bad certainly outweighed the good in many a place, but that doesn't mean the good things meant nothing. There was Robin, who gave me some much-needed attention, and ended up liking me quite a bit in the end, despite everything. There was Mike and his sister, who loved us when they were children. And Mike presumably _still_ liked us judging by his attempts to repair us and his disappointment when he was fired. And there was that pleasant night where it felt like Chica and I were friends again. Things like that may not have happened often, but they still happened.

Don't be like me. Misery is a thing that everyone's going to no doubt feel. Hopelessness, sadness, depression, all those things are going to happen, and they all did happen to me. But don't waste your life wishing for the end. Because when the end finally draws near, you'll spend the remainder of your time then wishing you had genuinely_lived_. I suppose in the end, it doesn't matter if I had a good life or a bad life. It just matters that I lived at all. And I'll tell myself that and accept that for whatever its worth.

After three maddeningly silent days and nights, I saw a large truck pull up at the front lot. This was it. I didn't know what was going to happen from here, but I would peacefully accept whatever's to come. The manger and Jenny unlocked the doors, and came in. Jenny shouted to the worker, "They're in here! There's four of them! And we have boxes of their spare pieces, load those in too." Four people from the truck came in and asked where they should start.

"Start with the fox, he's the smallest and easiest to get to," the manger told them. This was it. I wasn't ready. But I had to tell myself that I was. Two of the workers hoisted me up, one holding me by the arms, and the other by the legs. I was carried out the doors. For the very first time I felt what it was like to be outside. The sun was out, and its light hit my face, but the late December air was frigid. It was an almost surreal experience to have looked out there for decades, but never truly felt what it was like. There was a light breeze, which felt much more nice than the breeze from the giant fans they set up during the summer inside. For the brief time I was outside, it was incredible. And it was clearly no place for me.

I was thrown into the back of the empty truck. It was a good five minutes or so before all four of them threw Chica in with me. Then came Bonnie, and finally Freddy. One of the workers then threw in Bonnie's guitar in, and then another two threw in the huge box of spare costume pieces and animatronic parts. And they managed aim it perfectly so the box would bash me hard _right in the head_.

I think my power flickered on and off for a moment. That was a _hard _blow to the head. I could hear the little motors inside my metal skull whirring and clicking, they sounded damaged. I started silently panicking… I couldn't pay all that much attention, but I do remember hearing Jenny and her father say, "Bye, guys," in this somber way before the workers closed up the back of the truck. I was in almost complete darkness, but for a moment I thought I had gone blind. I was beginning to feel violently dizzy, blindness felt like it was a very real possibility. The lights in my eyes blinked, so I could at least see my hand in front of my face. It was becoming a struggle to keep my eyes lit, they were starting to dim. There was no doubt at this point, something in me had broken.

The truck engine revved up, and we started moving. I may have accepted that this was all inevitable, but I was frightened. Frightened about so many things. I still didn't know where we were going, and now I may have been terminally damaged with no one around to do anything about it. "Chica…" I weakly moaned. "Bonnie, Freddy…" I then forgot what I was going to say. I couldn't think anymore. Didn't matter, they couldn't hear me. I didn't even care at the time though. I was beginning to feel listless, and the whirring in my head got worse and sounded more and more strained.

I was shutting down. And I don't know if I'll ever be back on again. I could feel my energy draining away and my vision fading. I don't know how long I'll last in this state, and I don't know where I'm going. But wherever it is… I hope it's someplace good. But if it isn't, at least I won't be awake for it.

Though as bleak as things are right now, who knows… Maybe I'll be surprised, maybe this isn't the end. Maybe things will get better. It's always a possibly. Right?

The End

[Author's note: This story has two sequels, called _Mangled Memories _and _Invisible Strings_]


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